My Favorite Beauty Youtubers
When it comes to beauty and social media, my entrance into this whole crazy world was definitely through YouTube and that was what ultimate fueled my addiction to all things beauty and led me to start this blog. Recently, I've become pretty disenchanted with a lot of the Youtubers that I started out watching or have watched through my years as a beauty Youtube viewer. There are a lot of reasons that I've ditched some channels that I used to love, but ultimate that purge really made me think about why I love all of the Youtubers that I stick with and I decided a good post would be to share some of the channels that I still tune in to and still love.
For a list of my personal favorite beauty Youtube channels and the reasons that I love them, keep reading!
In alphabetical order...
I feel like I'm fairly new to Emily's channel, but in reality I've been watching her consistently for a couple of years now. The thing I love about her (aside from the Quebecois accent that I can't get enough of) is the fact that she always feels like a real person to me. One thing I've noticed with a lot of the Youtubers I ditched is that they feel like characters or commercial actors, but Emily always feels consistently like a person and watching her videos is like hanging out with a friend who really loves makeup just like I do. It also doesn't hurt that our taste and skin tone are very similar so I can take her product recommendations and run with them.
Video Series That I Love: All of the lip swatch videos. This is one of very few channels that will consistently have an entire line of lipsticks swatched in one video.
I believe I first found Caroline Hirons when everyone was going really crazy for Sunday Riley products and the instant I started watching her videos and reading her blog I was hooked. This woman not only knows what she's talking about from years of experience in working with skin care brands, but she's also a no bullshit kind of person who tells it like she sees it. There have been more times than I can count that I've been curious about a product or a skin care ingredient and I've headed over to Hirons channel and blog to see if she'd talked about it yet. I just wish she had time to post more frequently on her channel, because I would devour any skin care video that she makes.
Video Series That I Love: Anything skin care favorites. Seriously. Whether it be just stuff she's been loving or favorites in certain categories.
Emily was one of the very first Youtubers that I subscribed to and one of few that I've stuck with through all of the years. Like I said above, I like when I watch a Youtuber who truly loves makeup and seems like a real person, and those are the first two things I'd say to describe Emily. I think she gives honest reviews that are really constructive, talking about why things did or didn't work for her instead of just raving about them or calling them crap. There's just something about her that seems consistently down to earth and real and I always feel like if she gives me a product recommendation, it's genuinely something that she enjoys and there's a good chance I will enjoy it too.
Video Series That I Love: The Emily Awards, her yearly favorites, which is several videos each year and really thoughtfully put together.
Video Series That I Love: The Emily Awards, her yearly favorites, which is several videos each year and really thoughtfully put together.
I think Kiki G is probably the newest to my favorites - but I ABSOLUTELY love her. I feel like that combination of so much personality and cheekiness combined with the fact that she's a trained and knowledgeable makeup artist is a perfect combination. I also really like that when she does a makeup look, it's something I can actually recreate on myself and not feel like an insane person leaving my house. As much as I love the look of the Instagram/Drag-Inspired makeup looks in photos, I don't feel like they translate very well to real life, so watching a makeup artist who seems to genuinely care about helping women to feel beautiful in real life do wearable looks on her channel is really great. But really, it's a combination of that and the insane amounts of personality and charisma that she puts out there that makes her channel so great.
Video Series That I Love: Why Come No One Told Me That - her sort of basics of beauty series that she recently started with solid, concise information about different aspects of a basic beauty routine.
Nadine Baggott is another newer favorite for me. I had been hearing her name for so long, but it was only a few months ago after hearing her on The Emma Guns Podcast that I decided to check out her channel. The thing I love about Nadine is that she's 100% no bullshit. She's been a beauty journalist for a long time and she's clearly really taken the time to understand both product formulations and the industry really well. I feel like there are a lot of really young women on Youtube talking about makeup and, while I think there's room for everyone, I personally appreciate the fact that there are more mature women in the community as well who are bringing a voice of a lot of experience to the table.
Video Series That I Love: I believe the playlist is called Skin Care - Know It All. She has great information about certain ingredients and her favorite products in that category.
Ahhh Pixiwoo. I believe the Pixiwoo sisters were actually the first beauty channel that I subscribed to. As someone who had always worn makeup but didn't really know a lot about how to apply it or ever really step out of a comfort zone, their channel completely changed the way I thought about applying and wearing makeup. Like with Kiki G, because Sam and Nic are trained makeup artists with a lot of working experience I feel like the way they think about makeup tends to be really real world based. Even when they do really over the top looks, there's a balance to them that makes them real world appropriate. Know what I mean? Also, their voices and accents are pretty much a balm on days when I'm feeling anxious or stressed.
Video Series That I Love: Though not technically a series, I love when they do looks based on celebrities.
Rachel is another one of those Youtubers that I enjoy watching as much for her personality as for the content of her videos. I think there's something really charismatic about her and she feels very much like a real person trying out makeup very much in the way that I personally try out makeup. Our tastes tend to be quite in line with each other, so I can take product recommendations from her and run with them. I think sometimes that's the most important thing when it comes to finding influencers that you want to tune into. A similarity of tastes and needs combined with an engaging personality and presence on screen.
Video Series That I Love: Hauls + Haul Updates. Whenever she does a haul, she does a haul update two weeks later to let you know what she thought of the products. It's the perfect way to do hauls, in my opinion.
Sharon Farrell
I feel like Sharon Farrell really doesn't get as much love as she deserves. Aside from the Irish accent, which is literally everything, the thing that I love most about her channel is that she has really good tips and techniques when it comes to applying makeup. Because, again, she's been a working makeup artist, I feel like there's really something that a viewer can learn from her as far as applying makeup to the face. I also really like that she tends to do looks that aren't run of the mill as far as Youtube is concerned. What first got me to subscribe was that she was bringing something different to the table.
Video Series That Love: 3 Looks, 1 Palette. I think it's important to show versatility with palettes, not only in colour combinations but in different types of looks for different types of events or activities that you can get from a palette.
I don't necessarily think that Stephanie Nicole is the most charismatic person on Youtube, but she more than makes up for that in her working knowledge of products as well as her really thorough reviews. I love that she does cost breakdown that compares products to others in the same category, includes pictures of swatches on a deeper skin tone, and breaks down formulas and ingredients in her reviews. I also think that her reviews hinge on more than just her own experience with a product, going into detail that can help someone decide whether they want to buy something based on their own needs. Recently, I really appreciated her review of the ABH Subculture palette because it was thoughtful rather than reactionary.
Video Series That I Love: I subscribed because of her liquid lipstick series, but the videos I get most excited about now are her eyeshadow palette reviews and Sephora VIB sale recommendation videos.
There is literally no one on Youtube who tickles my haul-by-proxy bone the way that Tara does. Rather than make me want to shop, her hauls allow me to see what's out there that's new, see swatches in action, and hear about the products so that I don't feel as inclined to buy everything on the market. That said, something that really gets me about her is the way that she talks about makeup formulas. For someone who doesn't work in the industry, she really knows a lot about different formulas and can make good recommendations based on that. Her insane collection videos are what pulled me in, but I always get excited to see what she picked up when she posts a new video.
Video Series That I Love: Hauls. All of the hauls. As much as I love her reviews, the hauls get me every time.
Honorable Mention (not technically a beauty youtuber)...
Ahhh Cristine. I was so late to the party - not someone who subscribed after #PolishMountain. I actually watched one of her videos after it was in my recommended feed and I was hooked immediately. I think she's absolutely hilarious, her obsession with Holo has rubbed off on me, and her humour is so incredibly Canadian that I feel like she's one of my people. I've been getting more and more into nail art lately, but I'll pretty much watch anything that Cristine posts because it's just funny no matter what.
Canadian Beauty Bloggers Network Youtubers:
Because I know both of these Youtubers on some level outside of just being a viewer of their channels, I figured I would give them a separate shout out. I love love love supporting other Canadian beauty bloggers and vloggers and these are two of my absolute favorites whose videos always get a click from me.
I've actually been a follower of Chelle's blog for quite some time, so I was really excited to see what she would do with her Youtube channel when she started it and I think she's really building a great channel. Again, she's a no bullshit kind of a person who tells it like she sees it and has a genuine love for makeup. I also love that she brings something other than your standard, neutral makeup looks to the Youtube space with bold colourful looks that she pulls off beautifully. Seriously, if you haven't checked out Chelle's channel yet, you definitely should.
Samantha Jane
Sam's channel is another one that I found because of CBB and it's another one I've been subscribed to for a long time. What really drew me in was the brightness of her personality in her videos. I find her to be really engaging and I think that her channel has really blossomed since I first subscribed to her and I see it continuing to get better and better.
~
So there you have it. These are all of the beauty channels that I'm currently loving, that have easily kept my subscription, and that don't make me want to run around punching babies. Overall, I think there is a bit of a theme here. While there are definitely some much bigger channels in this list, I don't really love the kind of juggernaut Youtubers anymore. None of my favorites are from Los Angeles. None of them are really actively involved in the petty Youtube dramas that we keep seeing pop up. I like channels that maintain a focus on talking about beauty in a way that's fun, engaging and informative. Period.
I'd love to hear who your favorite beauty Youtubers are in the comments! And if you're interested in me continuing this series perhaps with bloggers or instagrammers, please let me know!
Thanks for reading!
0 comments